Ofcom has approved a format change for Xfm London, Scotland and Manchester, allowing them to network another three hours a day. This latest change reduces the amount of locally made programmes on each station to just seven each weekday, including breakfast.
In agreeing the format change, Ofcom said the request was almost identical to that made by Emap (now Bauer) last year with regard to the Kiss network and Global with regard to the Galaxy network of stations.
[i]Ofcom accepts that these stations are, in the main, stations for communities of interest – bonded by specialist music – and, therefore, it is not unreasonable to expect Xfm-style rock music per se to comprise the bulk of programming, with less reference to local touchstones than might be expected from more mainstream stations.[/i]
Ofcom said they believe that the Characters of Service would not be substantially changed by allowing the stations to broadcast only seven hours of locally made programming during daytime.
